Tributes are flowing in for Australian motor racing champion, Sir Jack Brabham, who has died aged 88.

The three-time world champion made regular trips to the New South Wales central west early in his career to race at both Mt Panorama in Bathurst and the Gnoo Blas circuit in Orange.

Denis Gregory is the President of the Gnoo Blas Classic Car Club in Orange and knew Sir Brabham.

"He was definitely an icon in Australian sport, not just in motor racing," says Denis.

"He was a very friendly bloke. He was also quiet; I suppose you could almost call him shy.

"[Sir Jack] never looked for the publicity that a lot of the other Formula One drivers sought. He stayed in the background, but when it was time to come out with something funny, he did that."

After growing up in Sydney, Sir Brabham started racing at Gnoo Blas circuit (now Sir Jack Brabham Park) in Orange in January 1953.

But Denis says his first few races in the central west didn't quite go to plan.

"At the time, there was only really Orange or Mt Panorama that you could go to.

"At his first meeting [in Orange], he was going pretty well, then his car blew up in a cloud of blue smoke," says Denis.

Sir Brabham came back to Orange in April that year where he secured a few third places, then returned in October and won.

"He just kept coming back and even when he was driving overseas, if he was in Australia he kept coming back [to the central west]," says Denis.

Even with a glittering international career with 14 Grand Prix victories, 13 pole positions and three Formula One world championships to his name, Denis says Sir Jack Brabham developed a soft spot for the central west.

"Being keen, whenever there was a meeting on here, he wanted to come," he says.

"At Gnoo Blas - near the Bloomfield Mental Hospital, the main straight was called 'Mental Straight'.

"Jack Brabham used to go down there at about 150 miles an hour and he used to say that you had to be a bit mental to do that, because it was a narrow road and not like motor racing conditions today."

Within his stellar career, Sir Brabham maintained his sense of humour.

"He turned up at one of the meetings in Germany, and there'd been criticism that he was too old to race. So he walked out to the grid with a false beard and a walking stick to get in his car. It was things like that that other Formula One drivers would never have thought about," says Denis.

"He actually won his first world championship by pushing the car over the line in the United States Grand Prix.

"He ran out of fuel about 100 yards before the finish; he was leading the world championship and it was the last race, so he had to hop out and push the car over the line."

Denis says Sir Brabham's legacy has been etched into the region's history.

"A lot of people saw him here at the time... everyone flocked to meet him and get his autograph.